"It's a great honor, I think, for anyone," Leloudis said. "For me it is a very special honor because I was an undergraduate here."
Leloudis graduated from UNC in 1977, earning a bachelor's in history with the highest honors.
He returned to UNC years later to earn his Ph.D. in 1989. He then joined the faculty, eventually becoming a professor of history, the associate dean for honors and the director of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence.
"One of the great pleasures in being back here is the sense of engagement," he said. "There's a great commitment here to learning for its own sake ... and giving that learning life and purpose."
As Leloudis sends the graduating seniors off with traditional words of wisdom and promise, he said he hopes they will remember to give back to the people who got them to this point in their lives.
"(I will speak on) the responsibilities and duties that come with being educated at a public university," he said. "It's in the spirit of that service and engagement."
After careful consideration and class polls, members of the Commencement Speaker Advisory Committee created a list of possible candidates last spring for the Dec. 20 ceremonies.
Chancellor James Moeser made the final selection from that list.
Committee Chairwoman Bernadette Gray-Little said Leloudis is an outstanding choice for the December Commencement.